Envious of Edward
by Tterit
Summary: It's been three years since Ed traveled West, but he never came back. Everyone was under the assumption that he died but then he mysteriously turned up in Resembool. There's something about him that's off though. He's changed somehow and May doesn't like it, neither does Winry, and when he's charged for murder, she really doesn't like it. Post Brotherhood-Edwin-T for violence
1. Winry

"Hurry and blow out the candles, Winry!" Paninya shouted as she put her hand on Winry's back and smiling at her.

"So am I turning seven?" Winry asked, grinning back at her.

Paninya sighed, "Sorry that was as many as I could fit on the cake. I figured that since it's a third of your age it'd be acceptable."

Winry shrugged, "Well I wish that I was turning seven, I can't believe I'm already twenty-one…Time sure flies."

"Yeah well, I don't know about that, you're taking like an hour to blow out these candles," Paninya replied. Winry blushed and leaned closer to the cake and quickly blew out each one of the seven candles. "What'd you wish for, Winry?"

"Do you really need to ask that?" Winry asked, cutting into the cake and serving herself the first slice.

Paninya bit her lip, "Right, sorry."

"Oh it's fine, it's my fault that I keep wishing for the same thing every year…I should really just give up and wish for a million dollars or something." Winry yawned as she shoved a forkful of cake in her mouth. "Getting a million dollars is probably more likely to happen."

Alphonse glared at her from across the room, "Don't say that, Winry! Brother is going to come back!" He ran out of the house leaving Winry combing her fingers through her long hair in anguish.

"Jeez, he's more hopeless than me," she mumbled, finishing her slice of cake and beginning to help herself to more.

"It's not such a bad thing for Al to keep hope alive," Paninya said, hurrying to grab her own piece of cake before Winry ate it all.

"I know that, but he can't keep lying to himself pretending that Ed's just been on some sort of crazy adventure for the last three years when everyone in their right mind knows he's long dead! Alphonse is just going to wind up disappointing himself and wasting his life away waiting for someone who's never going to come back!" Winry bit down hard on her fork and winced as her teeth hit the metal.

"You don't know that he's dead…"

"Oh, I know, and you know too. He's been dead for three years, that's the way my life is, everyone dies. Everyone I care about winds off going somewhere promising to come back, and they never do! When I was a girl I would stay awake at night and wait for my parents to come back, I knew they were dead, but sometimes I just pretended that they weren't, but in the end I was just making things harder on myself. By playing my little games at night I would wake up in the morning disappointed, disappointed that I was back in reality, a reality where my parents would never return to me. Al needs to stop playing that game."

Paninya put her hand on Winry's back again and sighed, "I guess…As much as I hate to say it, you're right."

Winry nodded, "I hate to say it too."

The door opened and Pinako walked inside with Al trailing behind her. "Why did you already blow out the candles?" she questioned, serving herself a slice of the birthday cake and handing a piece to Alphonse. Al sat down and silently ate his cake, avoiding any eye contact with Winry.

Winry scooted her chair slightly closer to his. "Sorry grandma, I just really wanted some cake."

Pinako shrugged, "Well it certainly is good."

"Thanks," Paninya whispered before the room began to fill up with awkward silence and a fat elephant.

"Listen Alphonse," Winry started. "I just…"

"Its fine, Winry…" He paused, "I've made up my mind about something."

"What?" Winry asked, waiting for him to continue.

"I'm going to go find brother." Winry flinched and gave Paninya a pained look. Pinako just quietly smoked her pipe, her face not showing any expression.

"Al, don't do something so pointless. You know Heinkel and Darius have already searched everywhere for him, not to mention that Brigadier General Mustang and his men have too. I'm not going to let you go Al, no matter what, you're going to stay right by my side, because I don't have many people left and I can't afford to lose another one," Winry whispered.

Alphonse smiled, "I know you're worried, but I'll be fine. I can still use alchemy so I'll be able to find brother and save him from whatever trouble he's in. I promise!" He paused and took a deep breath, "Winry, don't you want him back?"

"Of course I do," she answered, "But right now you're more important to me, because you're the one who is still here, the one I can still protect."

"But I still need to protect brother!"

The pained expression was still on Winry's face, but Alphonse didn't seem to notice. "Don't be a fool, if you go, I'll never forgive you. If you leave me, I'll hate you forever."

"That's not very fair, Winry," Al whined.

"Yes it is!" Winry screamed, "Do you even realize how selfish you're being? We all want Edward back but none of us are going to make things even harder on everyone else by being a reckless idiot!" With that she went up to her room and let the door slam behind her.

Al sighed and set his empty plate down on the table. "Why can't she understand? She's being the selfish one." Pinako shrugged and began cleaning off everyone's plates. Paninya slipped upstairs, presumably to comfort Winry. Alphonse pushed his chair under the dinning table and went back outside.

The wind was cold that night. Winter was on its way, and though Resembool didn't get much snow, it still got near freezing. Something about the cold felt good to Alphonse though, made him feel alive; reminded him that he had a human body again. He took a deep breath and watched as it traveled through the icy air. Tears traveled down his cheeks and he quickly wiped them away before they had the chance to make his face even colder than it already was.

It seemed to him that since he'd gotten his body back and regained the ability to cry he'd been doing it a heck of a lot. At first they were happy tears of joy. When he had just gotten his body back he just cried for the fun of it. He cried when he tasted his first bite of food in more than three years. He cried himself to sleep, just because it felt so good to be able to dream. After the initial shock of living like a human being again, the tears stopped flowing for awhile, but once he realized that his brother wasn't going to come back anytime soon, he once again, couldn't stop crying like a baby.

Three years later, he was still crying. He felt like a helpless child. He felt like he had when his mother died, only this was somehow worse. When his mom died, he really was a kid, and he though he had missed her with every fiber of his being, he hadn't had a chance to develop the vital bond with her that he had made with Edward. Ed was the last member of his family, the most important person in the world to him. They had both sacrificed so much for each other and his disappearance made it all feel like a big waste of time. Why go to so much work to be happy when such unexpected things could always just blow in your path and make you as depressed as you were before?

Part of him knew that Winry was right. That part cursed himself for being such a fool. Believing that his brother would come back one day, or that he was actually somewhere just waiting to be found was really no different then Ed believing that he could bring back their mother through Human Transmutation. It was just another big lie that might end up costing him something if he kept playing along with it.

Al took another step outside and kept taking steps until he was standing in-between his mother's grave and his father's. The worst part of this was that Ed wasn't buried in this cemetery with the rest of their family. Instead Ed's bones were probably eaten by some sort of monster or dumped in a river where a serial killer was hoping they'd never be found. It always sent chills down Alphonse's spine to imagine his brother dying alone, screaming for help but not getting any. A bullet piercing his loving his heart, water filling his lungs and stopping his breath, a knife slicing his neck as he called his brother's name; there were too many possibilities and they were all too awful to even think about.

Eventually he was too cold to keep standing around outside, so he turned tail and headed home. Al had considered looking for his own place to live many times. Being a twenty-year old and still living at your parents wasn't considered all that cool, but being a twenty-year old and living at your friend's grandmother's house was just kind of weird. Plus Al felt like he was a burden on Winry and Pinako, even though he knew that they were honestly glad to have him. No matter how many times he thought about leaving though, he just couldn't. He didn't have a job, and he didn't know where to get one. He didn't know where else to live but Resembool. He'd miss Winry and Pinako if he left. He could think of a lot of cons, but he just couldn't think of many pros. So, for two years and a half, ever since he'd gotten back from his little adventure to the East, he'd lived with the Rockbells.

Whenever he thought back to his time in the East he felt guilty. It had been his idea to go east and in turn it had made Ed decide to go to the West, and that had led to his demise. The trip to Xing had certainly been enjoyable, but certainly not worth losing his brother. May had taught him a lot, and it had been great to see her again. She'd turned into…a beautiful young woman. He hadn't seen her since then though; she had no idea that Edward was gone because Al hadn't bothered to tell her. He wasn't about to make a trip all the way across the desert just so that he could watch someone else cry about his brother, he'd cry enough for the both of them.

He did miss her though. Of course, nowhere near as much as he missed his brother, but in a different way, he did miss her a lot. Maybe in some odd way that was why he didn't want to see her. If he saw her then he'd have to tell her about Ed, and he didn't want to do that. He didn't want to have to break the news to her like that. He was still trying to break the news to himself, and somehow wanting to see May made him feel even guiltier. Living made him feel guilty. How could he possibly love May when Ed couldn't love Winry?

He opened the door, stepped through, and let it swing shut behind him. The house was quiet now; everyone else had already gone to sleep. Paninya was spread out on the couch in the living room, her eyes closed, and her chest slowly rising and falling. Al walked past her and climbed up the stairs to the second floor. He could hear Den clawing at Winry's door but he didn't want to wake her so he just left it closed. He walked into his bedroom and took off his dirty black boots before climbing into bed and pulling his blankets up over his head. He was tired beyond belief; it had been such a long day. Alphonse was soon in a very deep, dreamless, slumber.

* * *

"How many slices of toast do you want?" Winry asked grabbing two plates from the cabinet. Al was sitting at the dinning table drumming his fingers on the top. They were the only ones awake, Paninya was still asleep in the other room and Pinako was probably still tossing and turning upstairs in her bedroom.

"Um…2?" Al said, making it sound more like a question than a statement. He was relieved that Winry was acting normal now. He wasn't sure that he would have been able to bare it if she was still made at him. She set a plate with two warm slices of toast coated with an even spread of strawberry jam down in front of him. She sat down across from him and began spreading jam on her own toast. "Hey Winry, I'm really sorry about yesterday," Al whispered, biting into his toast.

Winry just shrugged and smiled, "Its fine, I know how hard this all is on you, so I can't blame you…But please Al, promise me you won't do anything stupid."

Al smiled back at her, "Alright, I promise."

"Hey Al, what was the last conversation you ever had with Ed?" Winry asked, her voice growing softer.

Al hesitated for a moment as he swallowed a bite of toast, "We didn't really say anything special. We just said goodbye to each other and talked about our plans for our trips. He teased me about May, and in turn I teased him about you, and then he just…left." He paused and turned to Winry, "What was your last conversation with him?"

Winry sighed and rested her chin on her knuckle. "Ed was standing in the door of the train about leave, but he said he'd give me half his life for half of mine, I said I'd give him eighty percent of my life," she laughed somberly as she spoke, "I think that was his own weird little way of proposing."

Al looked kind of shocked for a moment but he tried to compose himself. "So…so you guys were engaged?"

Winry blushed and began choking on a piece of toast. She drank a large gulp of water, coughed, and said, "Well I don't know if I'd say that…but yeah, I guess we were…In a way."

"I had no idea…" Al whispered.

"Yeah well, I haven't really wanted to talk about it. It just makes me miss him more when I think about…About what could have been."

Al nodded, "I understand. I'm sorry Winry, I've been really selfish. I've always thought that you guys didn't understand what I was going through, that you didn't understand that Ed was the most important person in the world to me, but he was your fiancé, so he was probably the most important person in the world to you too, huh?"

Winry shrugged, "Well…I did love him."

Alphonse sighed, "It would have been better if was the one who died."

"What are you talking about!?" Winry screamed, getting up from her chair in a hurry.

"I just mean, Ed was so important to everyone. You guys were going to get married and have a family! Everyone loved brother, but I'm not nearly as important as him. If I was the one who died then, at least, you and brother could still be happy together," Al whispered, ignoring Winry's outburst.

"I told you to stop being such an idiot, didn't I, Al? Do you really think we'd be happy if you were dead!? Do you think we'd just keep on living and act like you never existed?" she paused to catch her breath, "What do you think I'd just say, 'Oh well, Al is dead, but hey Ed at least your still alive now let's go get married and have a party!?' Ed would probably blame himself for your death for the rest of his life, and I…Alphonse, you may not be my fiancé, but that doesn't mean that I don't care about you! I love you so much, Al! I just love you in a different way then I loved Ed, but it doesn't mean that I wouldn't miss you every bit as much as I miss Edward, so stop being such a fool."

By the time she finished Al was grinning like a fool, "I love you too, Winry."

Winry grinned back at him, "Great. Maybe we should get married."

Alphonse cracked up and soon Winry and him were laughing like a couple of hyenas. Paninya stumbled into the room, rubbing at her eyes and yawning. "What the heck is so funny?" she whined, which, of course, only made the pair laugh louder.

* * *

**Thank you so much for reading, reviews and advice are always appreciated. **

**The pairings for this story will include: Edwin, AlMay, and possibly a bit of Royai and LingFan.**


	2. May

Today, Al was alone in his room, feeling like a bum. It had been three weeks since Winry's twenty-first birthday and Paninya had since gone back to Rush Valley. Paninya had begged Winry to go back with her. Winry hadn't worked in Rush Valley for years, she'd been too reluctant to leave Pinako and Al, so she'd just stayed in Resembool and helped her grandmother. This time though, Al told her to go to. He didn't really want her to leave, but she had to get on with her life sometime and now was as good as ever. Winry wasn't so sure that she agreed with him, leaving her family again sound painful, and thinking about all the things that could happen while she was gone gave her a panic attack, but she did miss Rush Valley, and the chance of Al and Pinako dying while she was gone were slim. Pinako would keep Alphonse out of trouble, she could be sure of that, so she had said her goodbyes and boarded the train with Paninya.

This was the reason that Alphonse felt so depressed. It wasn't because of the loss of his brother this time, no, this time it was simply because Winry was working again. Al had never worked a day in his life, and thinking about that was the perfect ingredient to make him feel like crap. He had made the decision to get a job, now he just had to decide what that job would be. His only true skill was alchemy, but he wasn't sure what to do with that skill. He certainly didn't want to become a State Alchemist, so all that was left was…Well; he wasn't actually sure what was left.

The house felt so empty without Winry. Pinako always seemed to be working on automail, and even when she wasn't busy she didn't exactly try to strike up conversations. Speaking of Pinako, Alphonse could hear her calling his name from downstairs. He went in the direction of her voice and found her standing in front of the front door, which was open, but just a crack. "There's someone here to see you," she told him.

He cautiously crept towards the door as Pinako passed him and went back into the other room to continue working. Al peered through the gap in the door, but before he even had a chance to see who it was he was tackled to the ground. "Alphonse!" the girl called, hugging his neck. "It's so good to see you!"

"Uh, yeah, good to see you too, May," Al replied, standing up and brushing himself off. He gazed at May's smiling figure and returned her grin. She was eighteen now, and Al could have sworn that she was even prettier than the last time he'd seen her.

"You should be happier to see me than that!" May scolded, "Do you know how hard it is to cross that desert? I crossed it just to see you guys you know!"

Al blushed, "You didn't need to do that."

May glared at him, "But…I was starting to feel pretty sad that I hadn't been able to see you in almost three whole years!"

He nodded, "Me too, I really am glad that you came."

"Good!" May shouted, "Now where's Edward, it's been even longer since I've seen him."

Al froze and ran his fingers through his hair, not wanting to give her an answer, not at all. "Ed is…" He trailed off.

"Ed is what?" May asked, sounding oblivious.

"He's…been gone for three years. He went on his trip to the West, and he just…never came back. Everyone keeps telling me that he's dead…but," he paused for a second, but before he could continue May's arms were back around his neck.

She was sobbing. She wasn't sure if she was crying herself, Edward, or Alphonse, but she couldn't stop. "I'm so sorry, Alphonse," she whispered. Al didn't know what to say, so he just let her hug him, and eventually he started hugging her back. He expected to start crying, but this time he actually didn't. He felt more happy then anything, happy that May was there, crying so that he didn't have to. "I can't believe that Edward…"

"Me neither," he mumbled.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, starring up at him.

"I didn't know how," he replied, starring back down at her.

"I'll have to tell Ling…he's going to be so sad…he's kept saying that he wanted to visit you guys as soon as he got a break from all his duties, but now…" More tears trickled down her cheeks as Xiao-Mei clung tighter to her shoulder. She felt terrible, she had always pretended like she hated Edward, but when it really came down to it, she liked him, not as much as Alphonse, and she certainly didn't have any romantic interest in him, but she could always tell that he was a good person. She also felt a mixture of worry and relief as she wondered what she'd do if it had been Alphonse, she really didn't want to lose him before she even got the chance to have him. "Where is Winry?"

"She just went to Rush Valley," Al replied.

"Oh, that's too bad; I would have liked to see her too…" May trailed off thinking about what she wanted to ask but didn't have the courage to. She wanted to know how Winry was dealing with everything, but she was afraid that, that might not be any of her business.

"So how have things been going for you?" Al asked, changing the subject.

She shrugged, "Fine, I guess, nothing special. Though I did go to Ling's wedding and he has a two year old daughter now, can you believe that?"

Al couldn't believe that. "Wow," he whispered, "Did he marry Lan Fan?"

May laughed softly, "No, he married one of the clan chief's daughters like he's supposed to, he just has forty-nine more to go. Maybe someday, he'll add Lan Fan to that list though."

Though Al was very, very freaked out when he tried to think about Ling having fifty wives he tried not to let it show on his face. "Yeah, I hope so…" was all he said.

"So what about you, Al, who's your special someone?" May asked, cursing the words for leaving her mouth.

Al giggled, "I think I'll die alone. You?"

"I don't know…I'm only eighteen after all…Though that does seem to be the age everyone is getting married at..." she starred into his eyes, hard, trying to send him some sort of subliminal message.

"Yeah well, I'm sure you'll find someone," Al said, blushing wildly as he received part of her subliminal message. He thought that he knew what she was trying to get at by saying all of this, but he was just too scared to admit that he understood her. He had no experience in this type of thing, none whatsoever, he suspected that, unlike him, May must have at least been on one date, she was a beautiful girl after all. May was growing frustrated. This was one awful visit. She felt so depressed she just wanted to keep crying. First she had to find out that Edward was dead, and now Al was flat out rejecting her. She glared at Al and he gulped. "Hey um, don't be mad at me, May." His cheeks felt like they were on fire. "I…I do like you!" Out of impulse, he threw his hand over his mouth, shocked by his own words.

"Oh Alphonse," May swooned, "I like you too."

"So we should…go on a date," Al whispered. May quickly nodded, over and over again. "But there really isn't anywhere to go in Resembool so…"

"We can just take a walk! Or anything really…I won't be picky."

"Okay, do you want to do it now, or…?"

"Oh, um…now is fine."

Al nodded, "Alright…then…" Al awkwardly reached his hand out and she grabbed it. His hand was sweaty and warm; even though it got pretty cold once they took their first step outside. May's hand was soft and delicate, like a baby's. The two of them made a real pair. May's cheeks were still tear stained, and Al looked like he was going to burst into tears just from holding a girl's hand.

They walked in silence for awhile. It had been almost three years since they'd last spoken, but yet they still didn't know what to talk about. "Resembool is so pretty," May beamed, "It must have been nice to grow up here."

Al nodded as he gazed around at his hometown. There didn't seem to be a trace of his childhood left. His old house was gone, his mother was dead, his father too, Ed had disappeared, and even Winry had left for Rush Valley. The world had left him behind. It just kept on moving on, but he was still frozen in place wanting nothing more than to go back in time. "Yeah," he whispered, "It was nice." May couldn't even guess what was going through Alphonse's head. She wasn't sure if he was angry, annoyed, happy, depressed, or just downright melancholy. "Xing was nice too," Al added.

May nodded, "You were able to visit it when it was at its prettiest."

Al smiled, "Yeah, the cherry blossoms were beautiful." Xiao-Mei climbed down May's arm and in-between the couple's interlocking fingers. May smiled and Al did too, though he was a bit worried that the little panda would revert to its old ways and nip one of his fingers. Xing might have been pretty, but right now nothing could compare to May's beauty. Her smiling face was adorable and it made Al crave to kiss her, but he wasn't the type of guy to do something so impulsive.

"Alphonse," May whispered.

"Yeah?" Al asked.

"You're hand is really sweaty," she replied.

Alphonse blushed as he quickly pulled his hand away from hers. "Sorry," he mumbled. Pain suddenly began to flood through his left hand and he looked down to see Xiao-Mei dangling with his thumb in her tiny mouth. May just giggled and snatched the cat-like creature away from him. At first Al cursed the panda for ruining such a romantic moment, but soon enough he was laughing too. He hadn't been on cloud nine for awhile, but somehow May made it look easy to get there. Al was genuinely happy, and he never wanted it to end. "How long are you planning to stay?" he asked.

May stopped laughing and grew thoughtful for a moment. "I'm not sure," she whispered, "I can't stay too long, I have a lot of duties I need to perform in Xing, but I also crossed a whole desert to get here so I'm definitely not looking forward to going back…Maybe two weeks?"

"Two weeks?" Al whined, "That's hardly worth the trouble."

May smiled at him, "I'm a busy person, and besides even if I left right now…It's already been worth it." Right after she said it she began blushing and she quickly turned her head in embarrassment.

"Haha, that's sweet May," Al said, grinning at her. She just continued blushing. "So…two weeks, huh?" he sighed.

May nodded somberly and said, "Yeah. Oh and Alphonse…Next time you have to be the one to visit me okay? And don't wait three years again!"

Al smiled and nodded back at her, "Alright, I promise that I won't."

"Good," May replied, "Then I'll be expecting you in less than a year."

"Less than a year!?" Al whined.

"Of course, we have to make up for how long it took us to get together this time," she replied, grinning.

"But I don't want to cross the desert again…"

"Don't be such a wimp, Alphonse," May mumbled, as she grabbed his hand and led him back towards the house.

* * *

**Uh…this chapter is really fluffy, sorry about that, it kind of feels misplaced being in this fic. Oh well, I just really love AlxMay. I'll try to make the next one a bit more interesting and a bit less fluffy.**

**Thank you for reading and a giant thanks to those who reviewed, followed, or favorited the last chapter! **


	3. Roy

"Alphonse, there's someone else that I have to see before I can go back to Xing."

Al was a bit caught off guard. If May had to pay someone else a visit she should have done so before now, she only had two more days to spend in Amestris. He had, had a good time with her. They hadn't done much, but just being with her felt like treat. He almost felt glad that he hadn't seen her in such a long time, because having had missed her made this time feel all the more special. "Who?" he asked. He rolled over in the grass and starred up at May, who was leaning against the side of the house. He blocked the sun's blinding glare with his hand and waited for her to answer him.

"I want to see Scar…or…um…" she hesitated, not quite sure what to call the nameless Ishvalan.

"Oh…" Al whispered, "Well I think he's in Central."

"Then come on!" May shouted, bending down and tugging at the sleeve of Al's shirt and running away.

Al stood up, flabbergasted and ran after her. "Right now!?" he screamed.

"Of course, right now!" May called back, "I only have a couple of more days left!" Begrudgingly, Alphonse caught up with her and found himself at the Resembool train station. There weren't many people there, but that was because there weren't many people in Resembool. May hopped aboard the train, sat down, and waited for Al to join her, not even bothering to ask him where he wanted to sit. Al took the seat next to her and sighed as she flashed him a wide smile. "Don't be mad, Alphonse, it will be good for you to leave Resembool for a few days."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he muttered.

"Well…" May paused, "When was the last time that you did leave Resembool?"

Al hesitated for a moment, thinking. He couldn't remember, and that scared him. He felt the weight of the world crashing down on him in a matter of seconds. "I don't know…I don't think I've left it since…Since I came back from Xing." He had been a fool staying in Resembool that long. What had happened to him? He used to be so adventurous, never staying in one place for too long, but yet now, a trip to Central was about as much adventure as he could handle. Maybe he was afraid that if he left his safe haven he would meet the same fate as his older brother. His brother had died traveling, so did that mean that he would? Had he really not done anything productive in the last two and a half years because he was afraid of dying? But hadn't part of him already died with Ed? How can you die if you aren't even living?

May was starring down at her lap, trying not to let him see how worried she was. She felt guilty for joking about something so serious. Even after three years Al was really still broken, and that was no joke. Al and Ed had always lived for each other, so in a sense, Al had lost his reason to live. May swore that she would fix him. She would do everything in her power to give Al a new reason to live, and she wanted nothing more than to be that reason. "I can't believe Winry let you get away with that," May whispered.

Part of her was honestly disappointed in the mechanic for not fixing Al herself, but another part of her was pretty sure that letting him be afraid of the world was Winry's own way of making things alright again. In fact, Winry was probably a major factor in why Alphonse had spent so long in his hometown, with no job, and no social life. Winry was just as afraid as Al, but she wasn't scared of dying, she was afraid of someone else dying. Secluding Al from the world was the only way Winry knew how to deal with her fears, the only way that she could feel safe again was by Al being safe. Al's lifestyle had changed dramatically because fear had consumed their lives; they were truly living in a miserable world.

"Hey! I don't need Winry to baby-sit me!" Alphonse shouted, snapping May out of her crazy post-apocalyptic thoughts and back into reality.

"I know," she replied, "She's been doing a terrible job at it anyway." Al was about to ask her what she meant by that, but the train started moving and he stopped caring.

"Central!" May shouted, waving her arms above her head. "I haven't missed this place a single bit!"

Al laughed and nodded, "Yeah, the last time we were here wasn't very fun."

"So where is Scar?" May asked, looking around as though she thought she might spot him, coincidentally, crossing the street right in front of her.

"I'm not sure…" Al replied.

"Great, now what do we do?" May panicked, sounding sincerely worried.

"Maybe General Mustang knows," Alphonse suggested, simply because he wanted to see the military man again.

May nodded and said, "I really hope so, because if not we're lost." Al led her to Central Command and to the entrance of the grand building.

"What business do you have here?" a guard asked, stopping them from entering through the large doors.

"I'm Alphonse Elric, and I came to ask General Mustang something," Al answered.

The guard looked him up and down, "Alphonse Elric…Do you mean the younger brother of the Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric?"

Al nodded, "Yeah."

The guard shrugged, "Ok, go on ahead."

"Thank you," Al said as May and him began walking through the building's many halls to the General's office.

Al knocked twice and it opened up slowly. "What is…?" Lt. Hawkeye started. Her eyes widened as she realized that this wasn't just another official pest. "Alphonse?" she said, putting a question mark on the end, "It's great to see you again."

Al nodded, "You too, Lt. Hawkeye."

Roy Mustang looked up from a large stack of papers and grinned. "Well, well, what do we have here?" he asked, standing up and walking closer to the others.

"Hi, General Mustang, nice mustache," Al said, suppressing a giggle.

Mustang glared at him, "Well, I see that you brought your girlfriend."

Al turned to look back at May as she made her way into the room. "You did too," Al said, starring at Riza.

Lt. Hawkeye sighed and shook her head, "Don't involve me in your bickering."

"So, Alphonse, get to the point, what did you come here for?" Roy paused, "Because, as you must know, I'm a busy man."

Al nodded, "We came here because May's going to go back to Xing soon and she wanted to talk to Scar before she left, but we're not sure where he is, so we wanted to ask you."

If the General was hurt that Alphonse hadn't come to see him, he didn't show it, though the Lieutenant suspected that, that may be the case. "Scar?" Roy asked, "Well he certainly isn't in Central, I don't know who told you that he was." May rolled her eyes as Al nervously scratched the back of his head. "He's in Ishval."

"Ishval!" May said, excitedly. "I want to see Ishval!"

"We haven't built any train-tracks there yet, so it's a bit of a journey, but we're working on it," Roy replied, "It would be on your way back to Xing, if you took the right path."

"Ooh! How convenient!" May squealed, jumping up and down with glee.

"For you maybe," Al mumbled, "I'm certainly not going all the way to Ishval."

May glared at Alphonse and sighed, "Fine, but I am."

Al glared back at her, "Fine." May crossed her arms and headed towards the door. If Al didn't go with her, then she'd have to leave him as soon as they got back to Resembool. She was really, really going to miss him.

"Oh, Alphonse," Mustang called, before Al had a chance to follow May out the door.

"What?" Al asked, spinning back around to face the flame-Alchemist.

"There's something I have to tell you," Roy stated with a glint of seriousness shining through his dark eyes. "Fullmetal isn't the only one who went missing; a lot of people who were currently in Pendleton also went missing. I didn't tell you because I knew that you had better things to worry about than other people's problems, but since you came, I thought that I might as well let you know about it now."

"Pendleton?" Al repeated, "You should have told me!"

Roy shrugged, "There wasn't any reason too. I handled things, Alphonse, the last thing I needed back then was you getting in the way."

"Getting in the way!?" Al screamed, "You didn't even look for brother did you!? All you were really doing is trying to cover up the mess, isn't it?"

Roy glared at him and slowly shook his head. "Think what you want to, but I did look for Fullmetal…" Roy paused as if deep in thought, "But you're right, it was a mess. The problem was bigger than just you and Fullmetal, we did what we could, but we aren't fools, and we could tell that whatever happened there…It didn't leave any survivors. Pendleton had already been struggling with the border war, and whatever killed Fullmetal wiped out the entire population of the city."

Alphonse wanted to yell at him for considering Edward dead, but it would have taken too much energy. "The whole city? Just wiped off the map?" Roy nodded. "I don't get it…How have I not heard about it…"

"I'm not sure," Mustang said, "You must have been living a cave for the last three years."

Al rolled his eyes at him, "A cave or Resembool," he whispered. It had him wondering though…Had Winry known about this? Is that why she was so sure that Ed was dead? What really happened in Pendleton? "So there weren't any bodies found?" Al asked.

"Not a single one," Roy whispered, folding his arms over his chest.

"Then maybe…" Alphonse started.

Roy shook his head and held his hand out to stop Al, "No, they're dead."

"But…"

"No, I'm positive, a whole city doesn't just disappear, they died."

"But then where are all the bodies!?" Al snapped, beginning to sound a bit desperate.

"You tell me," Roy muttered, as he stood up walked over to a set of cabinets and pulled out another stack of papers. He sat back down and began getting to work. He was trying to give Al the illusion that he was far too busy to have this conversation, but Al honestly didn't care.

May stepped closer to Al. She looked a bit puzzled and frightened. "General Mustang…You don't think that this might be connected to…" She paused and looked up at the dark haired man. "A Philosopher's Stone…"

Roy looked back at her, seemingly caught off guard. "A Philosopher's Stone…I hadn't considered that…"

Al was quite noticeably horrified. "May, are you trying to say that brother was turned into a Philosopher's Stone!?"

May nervously glanced at him and covered her mouth with her hand. "I hope not." May kept starring at Alphonse. She was worried about him. He looked like he was either going to punch her or pass out. She was certain that he would never really lay a finger on her, but passing out on the hand seemed very, very plausible.

"But if that were the case there'd still be bodies, right?" he whispered.

May bit her lip and nodded, "Yeah…that's right! So there's no reason to even worry about it!"

Roy locked eyes with her for a bit before nodding his head too. "Alphonse, I think that you should stop living in the past."

"Brother is not the past," Al mumbled, half-heartedly.

"Fine, but incase you haven't noticed, I'm a bit too busy to keep talking about Fullmetal," the General replied, still filing through papers.

"Oh, right…sorry," Alphonse sighed, rubbing the back of his right shoulder. "Come on May." May quickly followed him towards the door. She was just as eager for this conversation to be over as Roy was.

"Have a safe journey home," Roy called, shooing them out of his office and closing the door.

He starred at Hawkeye and sighed. "Poor kid," she whispered.

* * *

The two teenage alchemists were incredibly tired. Even though it wasn't that late, it had already been the longest day known to man, an emotionally exhausting day for sure. It felt good to get back on the train to Resembool. They could sleep on the train and then go back to Resembool and sleep even more…May hesitated as she stepped on the train, realizing that after they got back to Resembool she couldn't just stay there and continue her happy vacation with Alphonse, she'd have to catch another train, get as close to Ishval as possible, and walk the rest of the way. Then, she'd pay Scar a visit and keep walking until she reached Xing. Her body ached just thinking about the journey, but her heart ached even more. Who knew when the next time she'd see Al would be.

Soon Al and May were in their seats. Al was fast asleep with his head against the window. May felt a bit awkward watching him sleep, especially since all she could do was think about how adorable he looked. She wanted to sleep too, but she also wanted this moment to last as long as possible, this peaceful moment with Alphonse and the sound of train chugging along rattling through her brain.

All good things come to an end eventually though, and soon the chugging of the train had slowed down and they were back in Resembool. It was dark now, and obviously very, very late at night. May thought about staying the night, just one night, it wouldn't make that much of difference…but she knew that it would. If she kept saying that another night wouldn't make a difference then she'd stay the rest of her life. That's what she wanted, but she couldn't let herself have it. Staying any longer would just make it harder to leave.

Al stepped off the train and May followed him. "So…" he whispered, "You're leaving now, huh?"

She nodded as her eyes began twitching just the slightest bit. She could feel them fill up with tears and she cursed herself for being such a fool. Its not like he was going to die, she'd see him again…So why did she feel like she wouldn't? The tears rolled down her cheeks, "I'll miss you, Alphonse," she chocked out.

He smiled at her, his eyes starting to water. "I love you," he mumbled, so quietly it was almost inaudible.

May felt like she was going to faint. She was in heaven. "I love you too!" she squealed, so loud that the other travelers gave her an odd assortment of stares.

Al leaned closer to her and puckered his lips out. She leaned closer to him. He leaned even closer to her, closed his eyes, and waited for their lips to meet. He waited, and waited, and opened his eyes. She was gone! His cheeks turned hot as he looked around, completely flustered and humiliated. Why had she run away? He thought that she loved him, was kissing him really that bad of punishment? Had she gotten cold feet? No…If anyone was going to run away from a kiss it would be him, so what was her problem? He kept looking around for her, until he finally found her. She was jumping up and down and screaming about something.

He ran to her, worried that she might be in trouble, but then he realized that she was just happy about something. She was hugging someone…another man? He felt a mixture of anger, jealousy, and hurt. May backed away from the man and smiled widely at Alphonse. Now Al just felt angry…What gave her the right to smile at him after running away from their kiss and throwing her arms around someone else? He was about to glare at the other guy until he finally realized who he was, and he nearly began jumping up and down and screaming himself.

"Brother?" Alphonse whispered in shock and awe.

* * *

**Finally! Sheesh, this chapter took me a decade! I had a lot of writer's block while I was writing it…Anyway I've finally gotten to the good part! **

**Thank you for reading, and a thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter. **


	4. Edward

Alphonse Elric was about to go into cardiac arrest. He couldn't even speak, let alone breathe. He was lightheaded, dizzy, and thrilled down to his very core. He was afraid of touching his brother for fear he might break. He was afraid of blinking for fear that he might disappear. But most of all, he was just afraid that it wasn't really his brother standing in front of him, but just some man who happened to look a lot like him.

"Brother?" Al whispered again as tears began to roll down his cheeks. He couldn't restrain himself any longer, and soon he had pulled his older brother into a tight hug.

"Al!?" Ed shouted, squeezing his little brother even tighter than he was being squeezed.

"Brother!" Al screamed again. May stood off on the sidelines, watching the adorable reunion and feeling happy, but also confused. After three years someone who is missing suddenly returns…How interesting. "Where have you been, brother?" Al asked, a bit confused himself.

"Sorry Al, I'm really tired, could we talk about this tomorrow?" Ed whispered, finally breaking the hug.

Al nodded about a thousand times and May just smiled like a fool. She was so confused that all she could do was smile and wonder why on earth Ed was being so casual about this. He acted as if he'd stayed outside too late at night and made Al worry, rather than stayed out three years too long and made Al sob buckets of tears. "Sure, brother! Come on! Let's go home!" Al called, bouncing up and down and pushing his brother forward. "Winry is in Rush Valley right now, but I'll tell her to come back and she's going to be so happy to see you! I can't even imagine how happy she'll be! And I'm so happy to see you too! I mean, so, so happy! I love you, brother! I've missed you so much! Winry and General Mustang thought that you were dead, but I didn't and now look, I was right! You're alive! Oh I just can't believe it! It's so unbelievably amazing! A miracle! I bet that…"

May couldn't even understand what Al was talking about, he was speaking so fast. He just kept going and going, but she couldn't really blame him. She had just found out Edward was missing but yet she wanted to hug him again and throw a party in his honor. Al didn't shut up the whole walk home, and Edward didn't say a word. May held the door open for the boys and then followed them inside. "Pinako! Wake up!" Al screamed. Groaning, a door slamming, and light footsteps on the stairs followed before the old lady appeared at the bottom of the staircase.

"Al…" she started, before gasping and smiling, and acting generally uncharacteristically. Seeing a dead boy will do that to you. "So, you aren't dead after all," she whispered.

"Not yet anyway," Ed said, grinning.

"I'm going to call Winry," Pinako replied, rushing towards the phone.

"Okay, but don't tell her I'm home, just tell her it's urgent, it will be more fun that way," Ed instructed.

Pinako shrugged and waited for Winry to pick up. "Hello Winry," she said, "You have to come home now." She paused and glanced at Ed again before continuing. "Because May came here and she wants to see you, but she said that she has to leave in two days." May blushed, not so sure that surprising Winry would really be the best idea, but oh well, at this point Ed's opinion was the only one that really mattered. "Yes, you have to come, May really wants to see you, she has something important to tell you." Pinako was a decent liar, her tone was pretty much the same as always and if May was on the other end she didn't think that'd she'd suspect a thing. "Ok, see you," she said before hanging up the phone and turning back around to face the others.

Ed immediately yawned and stretched his arms up over his head. "Which room can I sleep in?"

"You can sleep in Winry's room," Pinako answered.

Ed nodded, "Ok then, goodnight." He began walking up the stairs, as though he couldn't get out of there fast enough.

May was still confused by his behavior, but she suspected that he was probably just acting off because he really was tired. Who knew what he had been through the past three years? Anything could have happened, and anything could easily excuse his attitude. "Wait!" Al called running after him, "Goodnight, brother!" he said, hugging Edward for the twentieth time.

"Goodnight, Al," Ed replied.

"You'll still be here tomorrow right?" Al whispered.

Ed nodded, "Yeah, of course." He continued up the remainder of the stairs and then stepped into Winry's room, closing the door behind him.

Al didn't feel tired. In fact, even if he attempted to sleep he was pretty sure that he wouldn't be able too. He felt like a child on Christmas Eve, eagerly waiting for the morning to come so that they can see what Santa brought them during the night. Like a child, he'd just have to be patient. He had to let Edward sleep, no matter how much he wanted to bombard him with the trillion and one questions buzzing through his head, he had to let him sleep. "Hey, May, you missed your train, didn't you?" he asked, trying to calm down.

May nodded, "Yeah, but it doesn't matter! There's no way that I can leave now!" She was being honest. She had to stay now that Edward had returned, obviously. She was totally thrilled that she had got to share this special moment with the brothers, but part of her also kind of felt like a third wheel. Maybe Al would be happier if she just left him and Ed alone instead tagging along, acting like she was as important to him as Edward even though she knew that she wasn't.

Al just smiled and nodded, "I know!" He started laughing and soon May did too. It could only be described as innocent giddiness, or perhaps insanity, but either way, they were happy, and that's all that really matters. Despite May's insecurities, seeing Al's life being so easily repaired was truly a marvel. She just wanted to kiss him…She wondered if they could pick up where they left off…Nah, Al wasn't concerned with kissing anymore, all that would just have to wait until things settled down again.

May checked the clock on the wall and sighed, it was late, and she was growing more tired by the minute. It had been an emotional rollercoaster of a day, and days like those could take a lot out of her. "I'm going to go to bed now, you?" May asked.

Al shrugged, "I don't know, maybe in a little bit."

She nodded and began walking away. She took one last look at Alphonse before walking into the living room, crashing on the couch, and letting Xiao-Mei slumber on her outstretched arm.

* * *

Alphonse was right, he couldn't sleep. He woke up in the morning feeling exhausted and ordinarily he would have gone back to bed, but there was no way he was going to do that today. He bounded down the stairs, taking them two at a time until he reached the kitchen. Everyone was still asleep. He smiled as he began digging through the fridge, cracking eggs, dripping syrup over slightly-burnt pancakes, and setting the table. Okay, so he wasn't the best cook, but he had tried and he knew that his brother would appreciate the simple effort. He checked the clock; he'd been up for hours, lazy bums. He was so excited, all this waiting was painful! Suddenly, a thought struck him and he panicked. What if Edward had left again during the middle of the night? He promised that he wouldn't but…He ran back up the stairs and threw open the door to Winry's room. Ed was still asleep on the bed. Al felt an instant bolt of relief.

He walked closer to his brother, willing him to wake up. He wanted nothing more than to come in banging pots and pans, but if Ed was still asleep, then Ed still wanted to be asleep. Alphonse knew that his brother used to spend more time sleeping than being awake, but that was back when he had to support his body too, so he shouldn't need this much sleep anymore! He could hear noises downstairs, so he knew that May must be awake, Pinako was most likely awake too. So…He gently poked his brother's cheek, repeatedly until his eyes fluttered open. "What the heck, Al?" he groaned, sitting up and stretching.

"Sorry," Alphonse apologized, "It's just late and I made you breakfast and I wanted to talk to you and so I'm sorry…"

Ed sighed, "Nah, it's fine; I shouldn't have slept in so late." He climbed out of bed and began walking into the hall, not bothering to make the bed, get dressed, or brush his teeth. Al was actually glad that Ed seemed to be disregarding personal hygiene that morning, because he couldn't wait any longer. He had to get the answer to the one question everyone was dying to ask.

They walked into the kitchen and Ed smiled at his brother as he grabbed a plate of food. "You didn't have to," he whispered.

"Of course I did! You must be hungry after…such a long journey." Yeah. Long. That was the understatement of the century.

Ed sat down and began stabbing his fork into the pancakes; he then shoved the utensil into his mouth and gave Al a thumbs up. Al smiled and sat down with his own plate of food. "Morning!" May called, walking into the kitchen. She looked at all the food and tried to pretend that Alphonse had made it for her. How romantic. She grabbed a plate and sat down next to Al. She wanted to say something to Ed, but wasn't sure what to say, so for her the breakfast was starting out pretty awkward. "This is great," she told Al.

"Thanks," Al replied, his mouth filled with scrambled eggs. Ed swallowed a bite of pancakes and began scanning the table for something to drink, he grabbed the first cup he saw and began chugging it down. Al started freaking out and Ed raised his eyebrow at him totally lost. "Ed!? Why are you drinking milk!?" he shouted, waving his arms about frantically. Ed starred down at the glass trying to figure out what to do. First, he spit out that which he had swallowed, and then he threw the glass against the wall. Al gave him a disapproving look and shook his head, "You didn't have to do that!" he paused as he got up to clean the mess his brother had created, "I shouldn't have told you it was milk. I mean honestly brother, if you can't even tell what's milk and what isn't then why do you hate it so much?"

Ed sighed, "Uh, sorry, it's just so terrible…It gives me nightmares."

May smiled at Ed. This was Al's dream world, that she could be sure of. Him and his brother were finally joking around again, just like the good old days. Al eventually sat back down and handed Edward a glass of juice, "Here you go, but please, don't throw this one against the wall, brother, Pinako paid for these glasses…and the milk."

Ed carefully took the glass and grinned up at his younger brother, "Hey, you're the one that put it on the table."

"You're right, that was a mistake, sorry that I wanted milk," Al whispered, grinning back as he sat down.

Things went on like that for a sacred moment. It was simple, fun, and normal, everything Al had craved. He knew it couldn't last though. "So…" he whispered, "It's the morning now, can you tell me what happened?"

Ed gave him a hard stare and then turned his head, slowly shaking it back and forth. "I don't want to talk about it, Al," he replied.

"That's not fair!" Al shouted, "Listen, I know something bad must have happened but I've waited three years for you, brother, I think I deserve an answer."

"I know Al, but I really don't want to talk about it!" Ed shouted back, "It doesn't matter anyway, can't you just be glad that I'm home?"

Al quickly nodded, "I am, I am! But please brother, tell me what happened, you don't have to tell me now, but when you're ready…Please tell me what you've been through."

Ed nodded, "Alright, I will, but not today, when I'm ready." The doorbell rang and May rushed to answer it, glad for an excuse to walk away from such an awkward conversation. Standing outside was a young blonde haired girl with piercings running up and down her ear.

"Hi May! So what did you want to tell me?" Winry asked as she stepped through the open door and into the living room.

"Winry!" May said, hugging her and beginning to drag her into the kitchen.

Winry was a little bit weirded out. What could May possibly have to say that was so important that she had, had to board a midnight train from Rush Valley to Resembool? Only one thing came to mind. Alphonse and her were going to get married. Amazing.

"Hey Winry," Ed shouted, ambushing her with a hug.

Winry barely had time to tell who was hugging her before tears began tugging at her eyes. This couldn't be happening. This seriously couldn't be happening. Jeez, if she had thought that Al and May getting married was unbelievable, this was…incomprehensible, but yet it was real. The love of her life was in her arms again after three long years. Amazing.

* * *

**I am a terrible person. Man! I'm so sorry I took so long to update this! **

**Thank you for reading and thank you for putting up with how long this took me! Please review! **


	5. Winry II

"Ed?" Winry whispered, "You're really Edward Elric, right?" She was crying. She felt like a mess. Water ran down from her eyes to her cheeks and down onto Ed's back, and as embarrassing as it was, snot was running from her nose and onto him too. This couldn't be a joke. Al wasn't the kind of messed up guy who'd try to pull something like this off, she could be sure of that. This had to be Ed. Or maybe this was a dream…Was she still really just on the train? The gentle movement lulling her to sleep with the sweetest dreams it could offer her?

"No, it's the mailman," Ed replied, grinning at her as he got a tissue and blew her nose, probably concerned that if he didn't give her that tissue she'd continue using his shirt as her snot-rag.

"Well then, my mailman sure is an idiot! I've been waiting for this freaking package for three years!" she yelled. Even though she was scolding him she still couldn't let go of him.

"I'm so sorry Winry; it's just that…You didn't put a return address on it," he replied. Winry could have beaten him to a bloody pulp right then and there. The way he was trying to joke his way out of telling her what happened…It was more than a little frustrating. But she was too happy to be mad. Anger wouldn't have had room in a body so full to the brim with glee.

"I hate you," she whispered, tears still pouring down her cheek. She flashed him a quick smile before repeating herself, "I hate you so much."

He gave her a smile back. "I really am sorry Winry."

"I know, but for your sake I hope that you have a good excuse," she told him. "So, spill the beans, what happened to you?"

"Oh…um…Winry, brother doesn't isn't ready to talk about that yet," Al butted in.

"What's that mean?" Winry asked, "He expects us to be patient about this? Ed, I'm sure that you've gone through something pretty terrible in the last few years, but have you even considered what we've gone through? I thought you were dead, Ed! I thought that we were going to get married, but then, suddenly you were just dead and you were never going to come back! I was happy again, but then you died and my life was ruined once again, and you're telling me that it's too painful to talk about it? I'm not like Al, Edward, as thrilled as I am that you're alive; I know that you're a stronger person than this. Whatever happened…you can tell me, Ed. You should know by now that keeping things inside never helps."

"I don't know, Winry…I think that it'd be better if you didn't know. Now please, Winry, I'm alive okay? You don't have to cry or feel sorry for yourself. Let's just leave the past behind us and be happy," Ed replied, finally breaking the hug.

"I am happy, Ed. Happier than I've been in years…But I want to know Ed, I really do. No matter how hard it is to swallow, I'll swallow it. I want to know what you went through Ed, don't you think that we'll both be happier that way?" Winry asked, grabbing his hand and holding it in her own. Ed starred down at her and shook his head. She wanted to be mad at him, wanted to demand him to tell her this very minute, but she couldn't bring herself to do anything. That gaze of his…his sad golden eyes pierced through her heart. She couldn't be mad at him if he gave her that pitiful look. She just sighed, grabbed a pancake, drizzled it with syrup, and stabbed her fork into it, all the while starring into those eyes and thinking of how much she'd missed them.

"Thanks for understanding, Winry," Ed whispered, smiling at her as he sat down at the table to continue eating. He looked awfully hungry.

Winry shrugged and shoved a bite of fluffiness into her mouth. "Who said that I do?" she mumbled.

Ed ignored her. Pinako finally came downstairs. "Ah, Winry," she said, pulling her pipe away from her mouth, "You're finally here."

"Yeah," Winry replied, "Thanks for telling me that Ed was here," she said sarcastically.

Pinako grinned, "He's the one that told me not to."

"Of course he is," Winry mumbled, smiling around her fork. This was nice. A crowded, lively house filled with arguments over stupid insignificant things was something that she had really missed.

Al had missed it too. Al had missed everything about his brother, even his hot temper and nonchalant attitude. He had also missed seeing Winry smile. Seeing Ed with Winry was almost as pleasant for him as it was for them. It was almost as if everyone in the house was having a sweet dream, they loved it, but they were deathly afraid of being woken up. He suddenly stood up and walked towards the phone. "Brother, come here! I want you to call General Mustang, he'll be so surprised!"

Ed noticeably flinched, and quickly regained his composure. "Not now, Al, I'm not even done eating."

"Ah come on, brother! We can call teacher too; I bet she'll be even happier!" Al walked back over to his brother, grabbed his arm, and practically dragged him over to the phone. He dialed Roy's number and then handed the phone to Edward.

"Hello?" Roy asked from the other end, "Who is this?"

Ed panicked, "I don't know what to say!" he shouted, tossing the phone to Al.

"Just say hi!" Al replied, tossing it back.

Ed narrowly caught it and put it to his ear. "Hey, General Mustang," he said, grinning.

"…Is this…?"

"Yes, the one and only Edward Elric," Ed replied.

"Fullmetal!?" Roy gasped.

"Nope, still Edward Elric," Ed said, snickering.

Mustang laughed and then said, "Yes, it's really him." He was presumably talking to Lieutenant Hawkeye who came on the phone a second and a half later.

"Edward?" she said, obviously beyond happy.

"Hi Lieutenant," Ed replied, mirroring her joy.

"So, you're alive after all, huh?" she asked.

"I hope so," Ed answered, laughing.

"Is Alphonse with you?" Riza questioned.

Ed nodded and starred back at his brother. "Yeah."

"He must be thrilled," she whispered back.

"Fullmetal, tell me what happened in Pendleton," Mustang interrupted, grabbing the phone from Hawkeye.

Ed sighed, "Does everyone have to ask that?"

"As far as I know, you're the only survivor from Pendleton, I have to know what happened," Roy said sternly.

Edward considered what to say for a moment. Obviously, he couldn't just tell him. He wasn't his boss anymore, and he wouldn't tell him before telling Al, no way. He starred at the phone hook and before giving himself a chance to think it over he hung the phone up. "Um…did you say goodbye?" Al asked.

Ed nodded, "Yeah, sure."

"I'm going to call teacher then," Al replied, grabbing the phone and calling her up. He then handed it to his brother.

"Who is this?" Izumi asked, her tone harsh.

"Ed," he answered.

"Edward!? Is that really you?" she sounded shocked, in a good way.

"Yeah, I'm alive," he said softly.

"But…where have you been?" she whispered.

Oh dear. Was it time to hang up the phone again? Nah…He'd try to be a bit more polite to his former teacher. "I don't really want to talk about…"

He could hear Izumi sigh. "It must have been hard…watching everyone in Pendleton die."

"You don't know a half of it," Ed replied, returning her sigh.

"Would it…" she paused, "Would it be okay if Sig and I came to see you?" Well that was certainly an uncharacteristic request, but perhaps she wasn't completely convinced, maybe she wanted to see Ed with her own eyes.

"Oh um…this isn't my house so…" Ed looked back at Pinako. "Izumi and her husband want to come here," he stated.

Pinako shrugged, "This house is already crowded, what will a couple more guests hurt?"

"Yeah…you can come," he told Izumi.

"Okay, great. I'll see you then, Ed," she replied, hanging up the phone.

"Teacher is coming?" Al asked.

Ed nodded, "I guess she missed me."

"Everyone did!" Al shouted, waving his arms over his head.

Ed grinned, "I missed everyone too."

"Great! Then you should probably call Heinkel and Darius," Al replied.

Ed smacked his head with the palm of his head. "Geez Al, this is going to take all day."

Al just shrugged and smiled. "You're pretty popular." Ed shook his head and let Al call up Heinkel.

* * *

It snowed that night. Heavy. More snow drifted down to Resembool than had in years. The world was blanketed in cold white ice, but Winry was warm and tucked up under the covers of her bed. She couldn't sleep though. All she could think about was the events of that day and the events of the future. Her future had opened up. With Ed back she felt like a huge weight had been taken off her chest. She could be happy again and Al could be happy again. Rather than spending her birthdays talking about whether the most important person in her life was dead or not, she could actually spend them with the most important person in her life.

She wondered whether Edward was getting any sleep. He had been forced to share Al's room now that Winry was back, though she doubted that it made him upset at all. Al seemed thrilled. She imagined that he if was a relief to hear Ed's breathing in the night. As long as he could hear his brother's breathes he could be certain that he was still there. That he wasn't just a fantastic illusion that would vanish over night. She, on the other hand, didn't have that luxury. For all she knew Ed could have left again, or maybe if she went to sleep she'd wake up back in Rush Valley and realize that this whole time she had just really been in dreamland.

She slowly stood up from her bed, stepping down onto the floorboards softly, praying that they wouldn't creak under her weight. She twisted her doorknob and walked into the hall. This was silly. She should just go back into her room and get some rest. What was she doing anyway? She opened Al's door and stepped inside of his room. Al was spread out on the floor and Winry had to be careful not step on him. He must have insisted that Ed sleep on his bed. For now at least, everyone would treat Ed like royalty, because, to them, he was more important than any emperor or fuhrer.

As Winry crept closer to the bed she could see Ed's golden eyes flash open. So he couldn't sleep either. "What are you doing, Winry?" he mumbled, rubbing at his eyes.

"Just checkin'," she replied, turning around, walking out of the room, and closing the door behind her. She took a deep breath and crawled back into her bed. Idiot. Of course he was still there. Al wouldn't let him leave. She should have known that. He was still in the bed, still awake; she knew that for a fact now, so why did she still feel so worried?

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**I make you guys wait for nearly a month and then I give you the shortest chapter yet, great huh? Thank you for reading and please review! **


	6. Alex

Fresh, untouched snow crested the ground as if it had branded the whole world its wintry playground. Christmas Eve had come faster than expected and Alphonse felt like he was still an innocent child waiting for Santa Claus to stuff his stocking with goodies. Santa Claus, or some other miracle worker, had already brought him the best present he could have received, though. Said present, minus wrapping paper and a silky bow, walked up to him and clapped him firmly on the shoulder. Al craned his neck so that he could see his brother and he smiled such a warm smile that all the icicles hanging from the roof of the house next to him should have melted into a sizeable puddle. Ed returned the smile, though perhaps, his smile wouldn't have made quite as large of a puddle.

He must have been worried about something, something that he wouldn't tell Al even if he asked, but that didn't matter anymore. He was used to Ed's little secrets by now and he had come to respect that his brother had changed a bit in the years that he had been missing. The change, though not welcome, was accepted. If it was Ed's way of dealing with things, if it was a shield that made him feel safe enough to return to Al, then he wouldn't try to take it away and replace it with a sword, even if a sword would seem a bit more fitting in his brother's hands.

"Aren't you cold?" Ed asked him, taking his hand off Al's shoulder and sliding it slowly back down to his side and into the pocket of a worn-out dirty brown jacket that was slightly too small for him, since it used to be Al's and Ed had gone though that amazing growth spurt of his.

Al shook his head, that smile never leaving his face. "Not really."

"Teacher should be here soon," Ed replied, telling Al something he already knew. Izumi had decided that she wanted to spend her favorite holiday with her favorite students, celebrating that the elder was alive and rearing to see another Christmas. She had already planned on visiting, just to prove to herself that Edward Elric was truly still alive and that Alphonse Elric wasn't just confusing some sneaky look-a-like with his very own brother, and Christmas seemed like as good of time as any.

"Yep," Al whispered, his frozen breath dancing across the air in front of him, "She's going to be so happy to see you, brother."

"Yeah well, I just hope that she doesn't give me a concussion for being gone so long," Ed said sheepishly, pulling his jacket tighter around his shoulders.

Al's smile quickly turned into a smirk, "I think that I'd actually like to see that." He wasn't lying, deep down half of him thought that his brother deserved at least a little smacking around, and Winry definitely felt that way.

"Gee Al, when did you become so violent?" Ed mumbled, shivering in the cold. The weather seemed to affect others a bit more than Alphonse, almost as if he had developed a certain numbness to hot and cold from all those years of not being able to feel them.

"I'm not the one who's going to beat you, brother," Al answered, his smirk seeming to stick around longer than his sweet brotherly smile.

"I really hope that no one does," Ed whispered, sounding almost solemn. Perhaps he was thinking about how if someone did, in fact, attack him, defending himself would be a heck of a lot harder than it used to be.

May came out, holding two steaming cups of hot chocolate for the brothers. She handed Al's his first, and he replaced his smirk with another smile as he took it from her. She then handed the other mug to Ed, who winced as the heat emanated into his chilly hands. That only served to prove Al's point, temperature had nothing on him. It was almost like he was still metal. Then again, if he were still metal, this hot frothy liquid wouldn't feel so good going down his throat. He sipped it slowly, being careful not to take it all in at once and, in turn, heave it all out at once. Ed eyed his suspiciously, as if it were an angry cobra preparing to strike. "There's no milk," May told him, gently charming the cobra with her squeaky, and oddly pleasant voice. "I added water instead of milk. I'm not sure if it'll taste as good, but at least you won't have to throw it at the wall."

Edward grinned at her and took a quick sip. "It tastes fine," he said appreciatively, to prove that he meant what he said he began taking a few more sips.

May quickly shook her head, and Winry ran out of the house. "I've caught you red-handed, Ed!" she yelled, pointing at his right hand, which was holding the hot mug and, ironically, was a little on the red side at the moment. "That does have milk! It was a test and you failed!"

Ed spit it out with rapid speed, and droplets of brown liquid flew across the pure white snow. Al glared at Edward, "I thought that you always knew if something had milk! But lately you've been drinking more milk than you've drank in your whole lifetime!" He thought about adding, 'not including when you were an infant,' but deemed it unnecessary, not to mention obvious.

Ed wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and sighed, "Maybe that's because you all seem to get so much joy out of tricking me. I've grown guys, so I don't have any need for milk now anyway." He set the mug of chocolate and poison cow juice on the snowy ground and waited to see what Winry would do with it.

"You said that you were enjoying it," May whispered, frowning, as she picked up the hot chocolate.

"And you said that it was made with water," Ed mumbled, "So we both lied."

An intense, pounding sound suddenly rang out. Had it been any louder the mismatched family might have attempted to take shelter from an incoming earthquake. Instead, a wide open mouthed smile filled with a tremendous amount of excitement spread across Alphonse face. "Teacher is here!" he yelled, handing May his cup and sprinting from the back side of the house to the front.

Ed slowly followed his brother, fearing his inevitable thrashing. As he turned the corner of the house, the thrashing came. It was different than he had imagined it would be. It felt like every bone in his body was squeezing in on each other until soon he'd just be a giant bag of skin with a bunch of broken sticks trapped inside. He struggled to get away from the assailant, but it only made them hold him tighter. Luckily, he managed to keep his footing. When he was finally released he took a wide step back and glared at the mustached man across from him. Alex Louis Armstrong. They hadn't even remembered to call him, or rather; Ed had begged Al not to. Hawkeye or Mustang must have passed on the happy news, however, and being the overbearing and overemotional man he is he must have hopped on the soonest train to Resembool.

"Edward Elric! It's really you!" he shouted, sparkly tears dripping down his cheeks.

Ed waved both of his hands in the air, and sighed, "Yeah, yeah, nice to see you, Major."

"This calls for celebration!" the muscular beast of a man, remarked. "I have brought you presents, as today is Christmas Eve, and Christmas," he continued, "Is a tradition passed down the Armstrong line for generations!"

"Really?" Ed asked, batting his eyes, "Just the Armstrong family? Amazing."

Armstrong smiled at Ed and quickly nodded his head, before tearing off his shirt and pulling him into another bone-crushing hug. "You're humor is appreciated!" he shouted.

Ed managed to escape the embrace and was careful to take a spot behind Alphonse. "You really didn't have to come all the way out here," he mumbled.

"Ah, but I did!" the Major yelled, "I was given direct orders from the General to pay you a visit, as he is not currently able to himself."

"Figures," Ed sighed, "He's just like Izumi, has to have someone confirm that I'm alive…"

"I assure you that, that isn't General Mustang's reasoning; I believe that he is simply worried about you, as am I!" Alex boomed, attempting to hug the poor boy once more, and upon finding Alphonse in his way, dragged him into the bear hug.

Winry finally strolled over to where the brothers and the touchy-feely man were standing. She raised an eyebrow upon seeing the astonishingly strong man, rather than the astonishingly strong woman that she had been expecting, _and_, upon seeing Ed and Al's bones slowly turning into Jell-O. "Major Armstrong!" she said, walking closer to the man, who quickly released the two boys. "It's nice of you to come visit Edward."

Alex Louis Armstrong gently bowed his head, "You are looking well Miss Winry."

She cocked her head to the side, "Are you implying that I'm fat?"

"Never!" Armstrong, gasped, receiving a teasing grin from Winry.

"Come in and make yourself at home, Major," Winry said, beckoning for him to follow her into the house.

Armstrong did so, and soon Ed, Al, May, Winry, Pinako, and him were all present and accounted for. Pinako got to cooking and the smell of sizzling bacon radiated from the kitchen and into the noses of her many guests. Winry and May joined her in the kitchen, slicing open potatoes and sprinkling chives everywhere that chives, in fact, do not belong. Winry began humming a Christmas carol, and May, began to sing along to her humming, Al and Armstrong joined them and soon they sounded as though they ought to be roaming the streets of Central, holding songbooks and knocking on doors. Ed, who wanted no part in their makeshift choir, eagerly waited for the baked potato bar to open. With a bit more chives and bacon bits, not to mention a few dollops of whipped cream, he was soon stabbing defenseless vegetables with a sharp pointy fork. He was almost wishing that Izumi had come to the house and beaten him senseless rather than this giant teddy bear-like oaf, who was still booming jingle bells in a voice far too deep to stand a chance of harmonizing with May and Winry.

As if answering his prayers, another heavy knock chimed through the house. It wasn't quite as loud as Armstrong's, but it was enough to stop the out of tune merriments. Ed eagerly raced out of the kitchen and into the living room. As soon as he was there he put his hand on the door knob, and slowly cracked it open, bracing himself for a kick to the gut. Once the door was completely open and pure tendrils of sunlight were streaming into the house, he closed his eyes and braced himself. He waited for an assault that didn't come, and soon his eyes were slowly cracking open and a warm, smiling face was coming into view. Izumi was smiling at him, hugging him even. Her skin was soft and her hair tickled his cheeks as she grabbed the back of his head and pulled it against the crook of her neck. "_So_," she whispered, "It's really you."

Edward nodded softly and carefully slid his arms around her waist. He could see Sig standing behind her, a relieved grin framing his bearded face. Ed's cheeks felt hot with embarrassment. All these people…had they really came here just to see him? Had they really traveled all this way just because they had been praying to see him alive and well one more time? He wasn't used to being this much of a center of attention and as much as he just wanted this holiday to end so that he could just have another quiet day sipping lemonade with Al and Winry, he was also flattered, to say the least. Alphonse crept into the room and soon Izumi had him pulled into the hug too. So many hugs in one short week, so much love…Of course, having the living daylights knocked out of him was still inevitable, and Izumi Curtis intended to make the boy pay. Just not right now, right now she just wanted to be a housewife, a simple, overly emotional housewife, hugging her two _sons_.

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**Hello! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Armstrong being in it was kind of an accident, I was going to just have Izumi standing at the door, waiting to kill Edward, but then suddenly she morphed into Armstrong, interesting. Anyway, I have good news; I'm actually not going to take two weeks to update! I've given myself the very, very limited deadline of two days. (It's so short it's scary.) But, I will have the next chapter up by Christmas Eve, because I don't want to write about Christmas after Christmas and the next chapter will be a special Christmas chapter. Let's just all cross our fingers and hope that I don't slack off, okay? Thank you for reading and please review! Merry Christmas, or Happy Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, or any other holidays you lovely readers might be (or have been) celebrating this month! **


	7. Izumi

Winry's eyes slowly battered open as screaming filled her ears. At first it just sounded like loud, nonsensical noises but as she lifted her head from the pillow the noises began to take shape. "IT'S CHRISTMAS!" Alphonse yelled, throwing the door to her bedroom open and running inside. He excitedly shook May's shoulders, who was now residing on a mound of pillows coating Winry's floor, due to a certain alchemy teacher stealing the living room couch out from under her. May turned over in her makeshift bed and opened her eyes so that she could see Al's beaming face. Upon confirming that May was fully awake Al turned his attention to Winry. "Merry Christmas!" he shouted to her.

She tiredly rubbed her eyes and nodded, "Merry Christmas, Al."

May was up in a second, looking as pleased as her wannabe boyfriend. "Yay! Christmas!" she cheered, awkwardly throwing her arms around Alphonse.

Winry grinned, watching them hug was cute, even if Al did act like it was the most unnatural thing known to man. Ed strolled into her room, a large smile framing his handsome face. "You guys are all way to childish," he mumbled, "It's not like it doesn't happen every single year."

Al shrugged as he pulled his brother into the hug, "But this one is special! There are so many people here to celebrate with! Lately it's just been Granny, Winry, and me, but now you're here! And May, and teacher, and Sig, and the Major!"

Winry couldn't agree with him more. For the last three years Christmas had been a simple slice of turkey on a plate, no tree, no gift exchange, the only good thing about it was that she didn't have to watch what she ate and freely indulged in glass after glass of eggnog. The other Christmas traditions though, she'd never really had. Pinako had never been much of a Christmas person, sure no one would accuse her of being Ebenezer, but she'd never put herself out to make the holiday a riot for her granddaughter either. Not that she didn't already put herself out enough for Winry; she certainly did, though, Winry would have appreciated a pine tree and a few strings of light growing up, but her granny had always clamed that a Christmas for two wasn't worth the effort. Once Alphonse permanently moved in, she had expected this to change, because, he was sort of akin to Kris Kringle, but apparently his deep rooted depression at the loss of his brother had stolen his Christmas thunder and he had felt that Christmas _for three_ wasn't worth the effort. Everyone, however, seemed to feel that Christmas for eight was well worth rejoicing.

Ed tried to look pissed off, but it was evident that he was just as pleased as Alphonse. Winry hopped out of bed and walked to her bedroom doorway where the others were standing. She pushed past them so that she could make her way downstairs. As if by the power of suggestion Alphonse as his hugging posse followed her. They wound up in the dinning room, blankly starring at a peaceful giant slumbering on the dining table. Winry slowly shook her head, slightly disturbed, and slightly worried that her dining table would be busted before they even got a chance to carve the turkey and pass around the figgy pudding.

Izumi and Sig were evidently awake, as Edward could hear them whispering something about him from the depths of the living room. He sighed as he struggled to hear their conversation over the Major's rumbling snores. Alphonse and May quickly ended his spy mission, however, by yelling something about Christmas, which seemed to be their version of the world's most annoying alarm clock. Alex Louis Armstrong quickly sat up and jumped off the surface of the rounded table. "It certainly is Christmas!" he shouted, sounding as eager and immature as Al.

Izumi and Sig's private conversation died away within seconds and they were soon standing in the dining room with everyone else, Pinako joined them shortly, though she was completely poker faced throughout the whole ordeal. Izumi smiled softly and leaned against Sig's massive body, as she watched the group gather in the dining room. They all seemed to be waiting for something, but none of them were sure what exactly it was. Being in the dining room would have suggested that dinner was on its way, but it was nine o'clock and Pinako wasn't about to start setting the table yet. The Strong Arm Alchemist managed to break the tension by bending down and reaching under the table for a large brown sack. At that moment Winry could have swore he was the spitting image of an in-shape Santa Claus. Much like Santa he opened the bag to reveal boxes of all shapes and sizes, wrapped in cheap paper with a repetitive snowflake design. "Presents!" he announced, "As promised!"

Ed cocked his head to the side as the Major pulled out a large box with a tag that said: _To Edward Elric-From General Mustang. _He handed the present to him, along with another one that claimed to be from the Major himself and an envelope that had Hawkeye's name neatly printed on the front. Arms full of presents, Ed waited as Armstrong began to divvy out boxes to his brother. Once both brothers had a sufficient amount of boxes Winry expected them to rip the paper open as quickly as humanly possible, but instead they continued waiting as the Major pulled the last box out of the bag and passed it over to her. This was…certainly unexpected, as Winry hadn't thought anyone would remember that she actually existed in this time of Edward centered glee.

"There! Now you may open them!" Major Armstrong, called, setting the bag down and retiring his Santa-like image.

Ed tossed his boxes around in his hands, trying to figure out which one to open first. He began opening the one from the General, figuring that it was more than likely some sort of practical joke like an alchemy book or some other ironic crap that he'd have no use for. He tore the snowflake paper and faintly smiled. Inside was a red jacket, his signature red jacket. Ed pulled it out of the box it was wrapped up in and slipped it over his arms. Mustang must have used alchemy to make this for him, they didn't sell ones like these at the store, and Ed hadn't had one in years, the General couldn't have known that, but he must have just made a lucky assumption. All in all, Ed considered the gift to be unusually hokey and sickeningly sentimental, had the General turned into a puddle of honey while he was gone? Either way, Ed appreciated it, though he'd never admit that.

Next he inspected the Major's gift. He didn't know what to expect from it…This one, was another pleasant surprise, it was a portrait of the Fullmetal Alchemist himself, dressed up in the very jacket that Roy had just given him, and his hair was braided, he looked pretty young and short, suggesting that the Major had drawn him the way he knew best. It captured his fifteen year-old self perfectly, however, which was only to be expected, as the art of portraiture had been _'passed down the Armstrong line for generations.' _Ed smiled as he starred up at Alex, "Thanks," he whispered, not sure what else to say.

Armstrong nodded and tore of his shirt (Ed had been waiting for him to do that.) "I am glad that you like it!"

The only surprise left for Ed was the envelope from Hawkeye. He imagined that there was probably a gift card or coupon for some crappy restaurant in Central, but upon ripping it open all he saw was a neatly folded piece of paper. A letter.

_Hi Edward. Long time, no see. I just wanted to say that I'm really happy for you. It may not be my place to say so, but no matter what happened in Pendleton, it's a relief to know that you made it out okay. I'm sure; the General feels the same way, even if he still wants to reprimand you for hanging up on him. You should tell him what happened in Pendleton, Edward. Whatever happened wasn't your fault so just tell him so that he can fix the mess and move on. You, of all people, should know that trying to handle things by yourself isn't the right path. We're here to help, Edward. Also, take good care of your brother, he's missed you. Merry Christmas. –__**Lieutenant Hawkeye**_

Edward shook his head as he finished reading the letter and stuffing it inside of his pocket. Hawkeye mine-as-well have said that her and Mustang had decided to adopt him, seriously, since when had she been the motherly type? You're gone for three years and suddenly everyone takes it as an invitation to stuff their noses in your business, it was…uncharacteristic of them. In actuality General Mustang had probably just asked Riza to write the letter as a subtle way to get the truth out of Ed. Well no matter how phonily sweet the Lieutenant acted, Ed wasn't about to pour his heart out to the General anytime soon.

Al had already begun to open his presents, the one from the Major was pretty much the same as Ed's, though instead of just Edward it featured Al standing next to him, and Al appreciated it a lot. He also opened the present from Mustang. It was apple pie. Courtesy of Gracia. He appreciated that too, a heck of a lot. Hawkeye hadn't written him a card, only proving to Edward that his had indeed been written as a little nudge to find out what happened in Pendleton, since Al didn't know, there was no reason to nudge him.

Winry went last. She scanned her box for the sender's name but couldn't find a tag, so she simply tore it open and threw the wrapping paper on the ground. Inside it was a green leafy plant, parasitic by nature, and it often attaches itself to trees, though not very beautiful, Winry was entranced by it. She rolled her eyes as she spun around, attempting to hide the present from prying eyes. She tried to guess who's bright idea it was to give this to her, but she figured that they all must have gotten a pretty good laugh from this little joke of theirs.

Alphonse leaned over her shoulder, trying to peek. "What is it?" he asked. Winry glared at him, as his eyes bulged at the sight of the mistletoe. "Winry!?" he shouted before bursting out laughing.

"It's not funny!" she shouted, but Al was beyond listening, he was laughing so loud he barely hear himself think. Winry continued to glare at him, praying that he'd shut up. That was when she came up with the perfect way to turn the tables. She lifted the mistletoe out of the box and-standing on her tiptoes- raised it above Al's head. She pushed May closer to him and began smirking, proud of her inventive idea.

May began blushing, and took a step back, as red as she was though, she couldn't even hold a candle to Alphonse's new skin tone. That shut him right up. Ed was now the one laughing, and Alphonse was the one glaring. Through May's nervousness, it was evident that she was waiting to see what he would do. She wanted that kiss, Winry could tell. She nudged Al yet again, now feeling slightly guilty that she'd dragged May into it. Al starred back at Winry nervously and she gave him an encouraging smile. Slowly he leaned forward, lips somewhat puckered. May's eyes widened as their lips met. They both pulled away as quickly as possible, reaching their hands up to their lips and avoiding each other's eyes.

Winry grinned, and Ed clapped Al on the back. Al smirked back at Ed, "Looks like I've surpassed my older brother," he whispered.

Ed cocked his head to the side, confused, until it dawned on him what he meant. It dawned on Winry too. Though she and Ed were technically engaged, they'd never kissed. She'd never even _had _her first kiss. She was twenty-one and still hadn't had her first kiss. Without even realizing it her eyes kept flickering back and forth from the mistletoe, to Edward's lips. Ed's eyes caught hers and he grinned widely. "Oh have you?" he questioned. Before Winry had time to prepare herself Al was holding the mistletoe above her head and Ed's lips pecked hers. He held it for awhile, or at least longer than Al and May, anyway. It was nice, unexpected, but nice. She had never know Ed to be so sudden though…something like this, wouldn't he normally be just as reluctant as Al? After all, hadn't he nearly boarded his train before working up the courage to propose to her?

"The turkeys done," was the next thing anyone said. Pinako must have been prepping for dinner while everyone else was having their little make out fest. Well, her guests were mighty glad because they were all starving by that point.

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Winry sighed, sad to see the best Christmas she'd ever had fading with the sun. She'd gotten presents, had her first kiss, drank more eggnog than should be legal, and now she had to watch her holiday guests trickle out the door. Armstrong left first, still shirtless, and emotional. Before he left though, he obviously broke a couple more of the brothers' bones with a hug.

Izumi and Sig said that they had to go too. Back to Dublith and Curtis Meats. Ed and Al followed them to the doorway, still saying their goodbyes. Izumi had, had a good day. She'd enjoyed spending time with the boys and it reminded her of her old teaching days. This sappy joy though, it couldn't last forever. Edward Elric was still an idiot who had disappeared for three whole years and Izumi was still going to make him pay. "See you later, teacher!" Ed and Al called, innocently.

Izumi smiled, nodded, and waved, before grabbing Ed's arm and dragging him out of the house. Startled he tried to get away, but she grabbed his waist in an attempt to lift him up over her head and throw, but something went wrong. She tried to lift him, but just…couldn't. "Why the heck do you weigh so much!?" she snarled.

Ed backed away from her as fast as possible. "What are you t…talking about? I'm probably just heavier because well you know, I'm twenty-one, not fifteen anymore and I've had a growth spurt and all…"

No one listened to a word he said. All they knew was that Izumi Curtis had lifted bears. There wasn't an explanation in the entire universe that could make sense of why she couldn't life an average sized, very much human boy. It just didn't make any sense! Izumi glared at Ed, hard. "What happened to you!?"

"Nothing!" Ed shouted, smiling, and waving his hands down, in a calming gesture.

Izumi just held her glare, "I came here to see if Edward Elric is really alive, and frankly, I'm not convinced."

Ed's eyes widened in shock, as did, basically everyone's. "What are you even saying!?" he spat, shaking his head in disbelief.

"I don't know, Ed. I just know that you weigh more than is humanly possible, and by watching you, I can tell that you're acting differently too. Al may not agree with me, but that's only because he doesn't want to. Unless you tell me what happened in Pendleton," she answered, "my suspicions will stand."

Edward looked away, seemingly afraid to meet her cold, serious eyes. "I…I can't," he whispered, sounding almost guilty.

"Then merry Christmas, Edward," she mumbled, before shaking her head, turning around, and walking towards the train station, Sig trailed behind her the whole way.

"Ed…What _was_ she talking about?" Al asked, his voice soft and worried.

Ed shrugged, "Who knows? Crazy old woman."

Al grinned nervously, "She wouldn't like you calling her old, Ed."

"And I don't like her calling me fat," his brother mumbled back, making his way back inside the house.

Al followed him, but Winry and May were frozen at the doorway. May was considering Izumi's words, and how she'd been feeling something very off about Ed's chi since he'd returned. Winry was just stuck starring at his footsteps in the snow, considering how very _deep _they were…

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**Hello! I kind of hated the first part of this chapter, but the second turned out pretty cool right? What did you think that since this was a Christmas special it'd be all fillers and candy canes? No, no, this is just the start of the deadly serious part of this little tale. Most of you probably know what's going on, and I'll confirm it next chapter, if you don't know what's going, like I said I'll tell you next chapter. **

**If you want to be super nice and give me a special Christmas present then please, review! I have a lot of followers that never review and I'd appreciate it so very much if just a few of you quiet followers reviewed this special chapter!**

**Thank you so much for reading, happy holidays! (Oh and I totally kicked my self made deadline in the butt!)**


	8. Pinako

**This is long overdue, sorry. But hey this time you guys get two chapters in one! 5,134 words altogether! **

**I just wanted to say, thank you all so much for the reviews on the last chapter. They really keep me going and nothing makes me happier then seeing that someone has sent me a review. I love to hear what you guys think. All of your opinions are very important too me and I really appreciate them. Please tell me what you think of this chapter. I'm expecting a few negative reviews for this chapter, but that's fine, I'll survive. Just speak your mind, I'll listen. Thanks for reading!**

**One last note, I don't normally do this, but you should really listen to Seven Devils by Florence and The Machine while you read this chapter, I listened to it a whopping forty-two times on loop while I wrote this chapter. So if you have access to the song, it will really help put this chapter together.**

* * *

May had pretended that if she didn't think about it it'd all go away. She knew, however, that that wasn't true. No matter how much she needed Alphonse, and no matter how much she felt that he needed her too, her clan would always come first. It had to. Even if Ling had promised to watch over her clan, and had kept that promise so far, she couldn't expect him to keep babysitting her people in her absence. She'd gotten to celebrate Christmas with Al and welcome Ed home, and that's all that really mattered. So, why were her legs giving out on her as she made her way into the kitchen to tell Al she'd have to leave?

She managed to make it into the kitchen, which wasn't actually all that difficult considering that she'd been moved back out of Winry's room and onto the living room couch. She'd expected to find him there with Ed eating pancakes or dry cereal, but instead all she found was Winry sitting at the dinning table, drinking a glass of orange juice and running her fingers through her hair. She flashed May a tired smile as she walked into the room. May took the seat across the table from her and sighed. Winry's smile turned into a slight frown, "What's wrong?" she croaked, her voice filled with its own worries.

May shook her head as Xiao-Mei scurried across her back and onto her shoulder, "Nothing really…I just don't want to go back to Xing, that's all."

"Oh," Winry replied, growing quiet. It seemed the mechanic was trapped in her own thoughts. The girl who had seemed so happy just the day before now seemed five years older and far more burdened down.

"Is something wrong with you?" May asked her, standing up and walking to the cupboard. She grabbed a glass and then moved over to the fridge, where she quickly filled the glass with the same orange juice her companion was drinking.

"I'm just worried about Ed," Winry admitted as May sat back down and began taking long, refreshing gulps.

May shot her a quick look of pity as she set her cup down for a moment of air. "I don't blame you…He seems like he may have PTSD." May wasn't giving her a fraction of the truth. Both of them knew that if Edward was going to develop post-traumatic stress disorder he'd have done it ages ago. His life had sure given him plenty of chances. And as bad as PTSD sounded, the alternatives were far worse. May, despite not having a history of lying and certainly not about such a serious matter, could not even dare to mention the far more likely scenarios. Her mind raced as she considered the conclusion Izumi had come to, that the boy sleeping in Al's room wasn't his brother. Chills ran up and down her spine just thinking about it! Was there actually a chance that some sort of evil spirit had taken the form of Edward Elric? Had they let that demon waltz right into the house, giving him the chance to murder any one of them in their sleep whenever it felt the urge?

May took a deep breath, trying not to let her terrible thoughts show on her face. The last thing she wanted was for Winry to ask her what was wrong again, because now there were too many things to even begin to list. Could she really abandon Al to go to Xing if there was even a smidgen of a chance of that nightmare being the reality?

Winry laughed, "PTSD, huh? He certainly acts like it…"

As if on cue the two brothers ran down the stairs and into the kitchen. All talk between the girls ceased indefinitely as soon as Ed stepped foot in the room. "Good morning Winry, May," he said, grinning.

"Hey, Ed," Winry mumbled back, not trying very hard to mask her mixed emotions.

"Hi," May replied, trying to sound bubbly. She couldn't afford to come off like Winry, it wouldn't suite her personality.

Alphonse was just a step behind his brother, and he was as cheery as always. May's heart tinged with pain as she watched him pour himself some of the orange juice and run his mouth about Roy Mustang and how Ed and him would have to go pay him a visit soon. She couldn't help but imagine the toll it would take on Alphonse if there really was something wrong with his brother. "May and I just went to see him, right May?" Al asked, smiling.

May blinked, startled by the question. She hardly even had a clue what the boys had been talking about. She decided to play it safe, "Yeah." Crap, that didn't sound right. She was just like Al…She ran her mouth off about everything and in her book, 'yeah' wasn't even a comprehensive response.

Thank the heavens Al didn't seem to notice, instead he just turned back to Ed. "He seemed happy to see us, I bet he can't wait to see you again! He's too busy to make the trip here but I bet he'd be pretty thrilled if we made the trip out to him!"

Ed seemed to completely lack interest in this conversation. "Yeah, yeah, the General and I should just get married," he mumbled, rolling his eyes as Al blabbed on.

Al sat down next to May, glass in hand. He didn't seem the least bit daunted by Ed's sarcastic attitude, he just shrugged. "We don't have to go if you don't want to," he stated.

May finished her orange juice and glared at the empty cup, as if its hollowness was the source of all her anxiety. She knew that now would be a good time to talk to Al, she'd meant to do it twenty minutes ago, and now was as good a time as then. "Speaking of going…" she whispered, still starring down at the surface of the table and trying to avoid making eye contact. Al tilted his head to side and starred at her slightly arched back, and the panda resting on it. "I have to go back to Xing tonight."

Al jerked his head back in surprise, and quickly slid his hand down onto his lap, nearly knocking over his juice glass. "Tonight?" he asked, his voice rising in pitch and filled with concern. He liked having all the most important people in his life being thrown back into his arms. May was another person he hadn't seen for nearly three years, and though she wasn't quite as vital to him as his brother, she was still someone he loved, albeit, in a far different way. He'd just gotten his first kiss from her, and now she was going to leave him. As much as it comforted him to know that Edward wasn't going anywhere, he wasn't the same person as May and he didn't understand why he couldn't have them both.

"Yeah, I want to leave tonight so that I can sleep on the train and make the journey to Ishval tomorrow," she answered, finally meeting Al's eyes. She faked a smile for both their benefits, but it was far too large and didn't seem to fit very well on her face, making her seem more crazed than happy.

"That's…" Al paused as he ran his fingers through his bright blond hair. He struggled to think of the right words, "A shame."

May nodded and quietly mumbled, "Yeah…sorry."

A pregnant hush fell over the room as the tongue-tied conversation came to a close. No one knew what else to say, as May's little announcement had put quite a damper on breakfast. More orange juice was poured as Ed took the seat next to Winry. She glanced at him from over her shoulder, still not saying a word. The four of them simply sipped pulpy liquids and silently kept to their own thoughts. Winry's thoughts were focused on Edward; while Al was considering May's departure and Ed's reappearance, May's thoughts dwelt heavily on Al, and no one knew what the heck Edward could possibly be thinking about, other than perhaps, orange juice.

It was then that Pinako finally made an appearance. Somehow her small stature and wispy pipe were enough to break the dismal atmosphere. She strolled into the room quite casually, not aware of the suspicions against Edward or the notice of May's departure. Winry moved her eyes off of Edward and towards her grandmother, her mere presence enough to calm the young girl down. In fact, Pinako was somehow able to lift everyone's spirits enough that talking resumed. "Good morning, granny," Winry said, smiling at Pinako.

Pinako nodded at her granddaughter, too tired to smile, and too hungry to settle for orange juice, no she went for a muffin, Winry hadn't even known that there were muffins. "Good morning, Winry," she mumbled as she sat down next to Edward with her blueberry muffin in hand. She chewed carefully, as if she was afraid if she did it too fast she'd loose all those teeth that had clung to her gums for years upon years. Though, she'd never really heard of anyone loosing their teeth from a muffin, and she really only cared to chew slowly because it gave her time to think. Thinking it seemed, was a new hobby in the Rockbell home. There was so much to think about that if you didn't pay it a second thought you must be a careless fool. Pinako was worried about her granddaughter, worried that she was worried.

"May's leaving today," Al told her, getting up and helping himself to the newly discovered muffins.

Pinako just absentmindedly nodded again, not quite paying attention to what the boy had said. Her attention was elsewhere, but she tried her best to give an appropriate response to whatever it is he'd just told her. "Oh really?" she asked, swallowing a saliva covered bite of breakfast.

Al nodded, his eyes growing sad. He was acting like May wasn't even in the room, and to her, it was beyond ridiculous. He ate his muffin just as inattentively as his granny, hardly even tasting it, but still going through the motions. May wanted to take him by the arm and drag him outside, where they could be alone and just talk. Just talk for the last time before she had to leave. She just wanted to talk to him, let him know that she'd miss him and hear the flattering words of him telling her likewise. She wondered why she couldn't. She didn't see any reason why she couldn't have that special moment. She waited for him to finish his breakfast and then she grabbed his wrist. "Let's go outside," she whispered.

He didn't argue, he just looked a bit bewildered as he glanced from his brother's smirking face to Winry's puzzled one. They stepped outside together, into the snowy land of Resembool. Standing on the porch of the house made Al feel calm, as it always did. It made him feel at home, and at peace. It was the place that he went when life became just little too much, or just a smidge to little. May stopped, and looked into his eyes, wanting to kiss, but also wanting to talk, and knowing that they couldn't do both. At least, not at the same time. "I'll miss you," she whispered, her breath running out her mouth and into his eyes. Like a silent, misguided kiss.

"I'll miss you too." Al didn't understand what the point of this was. They were both just saying what they knew. He wanted to make another memory. They'd had their first kiss, but there were still so many things that they hadn't done. Still so many things that he wanted to do.

"I love you," she whispered, keeping up her heartbroken little charade.

"I love you too." He smiled at her as he bent down and grabbed a small clump of snow. The cold didn't faze him, it never did. Not even ice clinging to against his bare hand. He starred at the snow for a moment, as if it was a life altering cluster of frozen water. Then, he threw it at May. He didn't aim for certain spot, per say, he just threw it. He acted casual about it, trying to surprise her, but grinning like a fool once the deed was done.

She glared at him, her brows furrowed and her eyes shooting Kunai at him. Xiao-Mei growled, though the snow hadn't touched her, but touching her master was basically the same in her book. "What was that for?" she whined.

"I'm bored, I don't want you to leave, and there's snow on the ground," Al mumbled.

"So you're trying to pick a fight with me, huh?" she asked, throwing her arms onto her hips and pouting.

He nodded, "A snowball fight, have you ever had one?"

She considered it for a moment. Xing didn't get much snow, and no one in her clan had ever played much of anything with her. When they looked at her it wasn't in way that you look at a kid, it was in the way you look at a person who needs to get something done. That was the way everyone in her clan looked at each other. With a slight jab of pity, and a quick mix of love and impatience. There wasn't time to throw snow at one another, and if there was, then they wouldn't spend it throwing snow at one another. The crown princess had her duties.

Here in Amestris though, here with Al none of that mattered. Those troubles belonged to a different girl. Until she got on the train back home at least. Then she'd become that girl. That girl with that life and those duties.

For now though, she just shook her head and scooped snow into her hand. She flung it at Al's shoulder and he began laughing. At that moment neither of them had a care in the world. May wasn't leaving. She wasn't wary of Edward. She didn't fear for Al's safety and Al didn't fear for hers. They were both pretending that they weren't petrified of their worlds crumbling, and maybe in that second they really weren't.

Ed and Winry came outside. They had figured that Al and May would want some time alone, but then they heard all their screaming and decided to see what they were up to. You know, to make sure that the screaming wasn't aimed at each other. The last thing that they needed was their happy couple yelling at each other. It was a pleasant surprise to see them in the midst of snowball fight. And of course, the two had to pitch in. It became a full-blown war of the genders. The kind of war that could only serve to smear giant grins upon the faces of its participants. The kind of war that lasted all afternoon and led them to sundown. The kind of war that ended with its crown princess having to go back to her home country.

May, Al, and Winry headed out to the train station. They'd asked Ed if he wanted to come, but he said that the battle had done him in. Pinako didn't want to come either; an old automail engineer has to get sleep whenever she can. It didn't matter though; the only one whose presence really counted was Alphonse.

* * *

He was standing in front of a mirror. He hadn't seen his reflection in a long time, or at least not his real one. Or no, this wasn't his real one either. He didn't want to ever see his real one again, if he saw it then that would mean…Some would call this his preferred reflection, or his most frequent reflection, but it wasn't his original reflection by any means. This was just how he wanted to look. Perfectly androgynous and eternally young. His clothing might suggest that he's a girl. His muscles might imply that he's a boy. His hair could lead others to believe that he's a palm tree. Only humans worried about such miniscule things as genders, though. Humans, and Greed and Lust. But those two had only worried about their gender so that they could worry about the opposite one. He didn't care though. He didn't have a gender and that was fine by him. He was, and always would be, the embodiment of envy.

He'd been trapped in the pipsqueak's form for far too long. Having to pretend to be Edward Elric was getting beyond tiresome, even if it did have a certain slice of fabrication filled fun. To lie to his enemies. To have them welcome him into their home even after he'd killed so many people that they loved, and still had yet to kill so many more. That was what it was all about. Raw emotions. Humans wore them on their sleeves and he could tear them off within seconds.

It was this human, this human whose body he had worn like a mask, he had been the one to pull of his sleeve. Though Envy had killed himself, there were two people he'd always blamed, and now there was one left. The events of the last three years, the things that happened in Pendleton, they were far worse then these humans could ever imagine. They also happened far quicker than one might think. He was quick and didn't leave a trace.

Jealous of humans. How could he be jealous of his parts when the sum was so much greater? He just didn't understand how the prodigy had seen through him even when he couldn't see through himself.

That didn't matter though, he was alive again. Dying with such utterly humiliation wasn't like him; it wasn't what he'd wanted. Sure he'd rather die at his own hands then go out in the flames of Roy Mustang, but he'd rather just not die at all. He was the predator not the prey. He was immortal and undying so why had he died? And why was he alive again? Well, he actually knew the answer to that one, but these humans would sure be curious. Curious and shocked. Tears would come from their little eyes and he sought revenge on his remaining enemy. As he shoved a knife in Roy Mustang's throat. He could see it all, Roy's eyes bulging out of his head as he saw his best friend's killer rise from the grave just to throw him in. And just wait until they found out about the location of Edward Elric! Ha!

Alphonse Elric wanted him to pay a visit to the Flame Alchemist. Envy wasn't quite sure if he was ready for that though. Even if it would bring his sick fantasies to light, he also enjoyed the game he was playing, and there were still so many pieces left on the board. To be treated like a human, to be loved, to be trusted, they made killing so much more interesting. The longer he played this game, the greater the impact of the climax.

As much as he wanted to keep playing though, he needed a break, and that was why he hadn't went to see May off, that was why he was standing in Al's room starring at his old self in the elongated mirror.

The trouble though, that all started when Pinako walked in.

* * *

The trek to the train station was a long gloomy one. May and Al held hands the whole way, and Winry starred at them with pity. She was glad that the boy she loved lived in the same country as her, the same house even. It made things so much easier, even if they weren't the type to plant kisses on each other every morning, just seeing him was enough. Poor Al, his first relationship was quite possibly as long distance as it gets.

It was dark outside, and each of them was careful to watch their footsteps, given that the darkness and the slippery snow could be a dreadful combination.

The group made it to the train station. And May's palms began to sweat. In mere minutes she wouldn't have Alphonse. She'd have to go home, cross the desert all by herself again. Why do good things always come to an end, but bad things never do?

She'd bitten her lip to shreds trying to hold in her tears. She cried far too often for her own good. It was okay when she was twelve, but now she'd have to suck it up and get through this without all the overly emotional junk. She'd show Al that she was more mature now. That she could handle their parting as long as she knew that they'd meet again. No one was dying, so she didn't have a right to be crying.

She could tell herself to be brave a million times, but May still felt her eyes water. Alphonse wasn't crying, did that mean that he didn't care about her as much as she cared about him? No, that couldn't be it, he was just stronger. Stronger than she could ever even hope to be.

The train pulled into the station and May gave up her futile battle. The tears rolled freely, bathing her cheeks in sorrow.

* * *

"Who the…" she gasped, clapping her hand over her mouth and arching her eyebrows, "What the heck are you doing in my house?"

A smug look spread across Envy's face, as if he had won some sort of war that had never really taken place. A million and a half snide remarks crossed through his brain. He decided he'd start out simple. "You should have knocked first, I could have been naked." His grin couldn't fit on his face at that point. This game of his, the other players' turns were certainly interesting. He hadn't expected to be found out so soon, but it didn't really matter. After all, this would only serve to make his revenge sweeter. Serve to entertain him more. He had these humans around his fingers. With so many players left, it wouldn't hurt to toss out a pawn. She was expendable after all.

"Who are you?" Pinako gaped, trying her very best to look pissed off and intimidating, but her fear was so thick Envy could almost smell it in her perspiration.

"Why I'm Edward Elric," Envy whispered, morphing into his newly adopted form.

Pinako's fear only increased. It had been his turn to make an unexpected move, and it was certainly unexpected. Had she been a frailer woman she may have been stricken with a heart attack, but instead she stood her ground. Yes, she was petrified of this uninvited being, but she was also livid. Livid that this thing had dared to wedge itself into her life, pretending to be the boy who could only be thought of as her grandson. There were no blood ties connecting him to her, but blood is only thicker then water if the water is a liquid. Ice is plenty thick. As is love, and she had a lot of love for that boy. She also had a mountain of love for her granddaughter and this monster had torn out her heart and stomped on it. She hadn't a clue who this imposter was; she just knew that she loathed it. "Shut your mouth."

"Ha, you think that you can talk to me like that?" Envy asked, snickering. "I'm not actually the pipsqueak, you know. I won't take your crap."

"Oh really?" Pinako asked, praying that her voice wouldn't betray her. "Then tell me who you really are." She might be attempting to buy time, or she might just be curious, she honestly wasn't sure.

Envy rolled his eyes and slapped his hand to his forehead, "You wouldn't even understand what I am!" He paused, pulling his hand away from his face, and looking down at her. "I'm a Philosopher's Stone, envy in the flesh, a homunculus, and…I'm the living dead." Something about having come back from the portal, defying Truth, and being the only remaining piece of his Father left, it made him truly feel like a zombie. He was only after flesh. He didn't want to eat it; he just wanted to make it go cold. Kill and be killed. That's what he'd begged the humans to do, and somehow, he'd wound up doing both at the exact same time. He'd killed himself, and in turn, he was killed. Now that he was back though, he could do without the 'be killed' part, not that this little granny could ever stand a chance toe to toe with him. He was immortal. He was undying. He'd never die again, once had been enough. Once had been too much.

Pinako took a slow, steady step back. It wasn't on purpose, it was simply her fight or flight instincts kicking in. She figured that she had a better shot at sprouting wings and learning how to fly then beating a zombie homunculus in a fistfight. "Where's…where's Edward?" she whispered, taking another step.

Envy shook his head, smiling a smile that almost seemed warm. Had he not just told her what he was, she may have let down her guard a bit, but she knew that she couldn't. Homunculus. She didn't know a thing about them. Al had tried to explain it to her a dozen times over, but all she understood was that they were regenerative killers that had something to do with the seven deadly sins and the man who had tried to bring down Amestris. Extracting emotions, Philosopher's Stones, that was Greek to her though. She had heard Ed and Al talk about a homunculus named Greed, and she knew that he'd sacrificed himself for the greater good, but this Envy, didn't seem willing to sacrifice himself for all the tea in China, not that anyone would.

Envy wanted to tell her, wanted to laugh as he watched her learn the truth of the matter. He wanted to see how she'd react. He wanted to torture her until she screamed for mercy. He didn't have time to indulge himself, though. It was rapidly occurring to him that Alphonse Elric and Winry Rockbell could come home at any minute, and if they saw him like this…If Pinako was given even a breath of moment to tell them what he'd told her, then his game would come to a quick and dull end. He hadn't played this long just to reach a dead-end. He had to at least finish this level. He'd have to be quick. Quick like Pendleton. He slid his hand behind his back, and changed its form with brisk speed. Pinako took another step back as he sprung forward. "Dying isn't fun, is it?" he whispered, plugging his jagged hand into her chest.

"I…" Pinako gasped, blood purging from the wound with rapid speed. Her breath escaped her, her voice betrayed her. She wanted to say something, but the words couldn't find her. In that moment her life didn't flash before her very eyes, the only thought that took over her ever neuron was Winry. Winry. Winry. Winry. She couldn't do this to her! She had to get up! She had to move on! This wasn't right! Winry had lost too much already for her to let this happen! She chocked on her words, as she chocked on her blood. "I…can't die!"

"But yet you are," Envy mumbled, as he flexed his fingers, pulling his hand out of her and attempting to wipe the blood away. He wanted to at least have a little bit of fun. He surely deserved it. So, he became a girl. A girl with frosted blue eyes and lengthy blonde hair. He became Winry, and then, he plugged his knife back into her grandmother's chest. "Looks like you failed, human."

Envy was smiling. Pinako starred up at her granddaughter's face, watched her smile. To Pinako the face and the hand were not connected. And even if she knew that this monster wasn't her granddaughter, even if she knew that her granddaughter would never hurt her, not even a little, Pinako was still almost thankful that Envy had taken on Winry's appearance. To see Winry as she died, even a fraud, it put a small chunk of peace back into her slowing heart. She could rest easy; Winry was going to be okay. Alphonse would protect her. Her death, she could only pray that it would serve as a beacon to them, a beacon that they'd better get the heck away from Envy the jealous.

* * *

The train station couldn't help but bring a smile to Winry's face. Even as May cried buckets of tears, all Winry could think about was Edward. He'd proposed to her here. She wondered when he'd put his money where his mouth was and slip a ring on her finger. She hoped soon, because she was getting sick of waiting. She was on cloud nine with the course of her life already, but maybe he could take her to cloud ten. She was still willing to give him eighty-five percent of her life; she just prayed that he was too. Then again…if he gave her eighty-five percent of his life and she gave him eighty-five percent of hers, then equivalent exchange would still stand, that wouldn't do. She figured that she'd just secretly have to give him eighty-six.

"I'm going to miss you, Alphonse!" May cried, wrapping her skinny arms around Al.

His eyes shook as he held her, for what might be the last time in years. "I'll miss you too, May…" The train was in the background, ominous and waiting. He kissed her, a quick peck that wouldn't serve to make her late, but would serve to show his love. His deep, unwavering love.

May sniffled as she slowly slipped out of his arms, "Goodbye Winry, I'll see you soon Al, I promise!" she called as she stepped onto the train and waited for the doors to close.

"Yeah!" Al called, "I can't wait!" Even as he said it his voice cracked. Like a pubescent boy, experiencing the quickening of his heart and the sweating of his palms for the first time. His knees wanted to buckle out from him, his throat wanted to close, his eyes wanted to sting with moisture, but instead, he took a deep breath, spun around and walked home. He needed to see his brother, needed to be reminded that even though May had left, Ed never would. Edward would never leave his side again.


End file.
